If you have anything sell, be it a physical product from saucepans to entire new kitchens, a digital or financial one, like a computer programme or a savings account, or your services as an expert consultant, then you need to know how and why customers learn to love products. If you don’t then your new product development and marketing process is hamstrung – you’re simply taking shots in the dark, not informed decisions.
Today we’re taking a look at this mysterious process and trying to make sure you have some insight into how to make customers fall in you love with what you have to offer, insuring they come back time and time again.
Starting With Data
The first thing you need is hard data: following your gut instincts is all very well if you have a long history of success informing your sense of intuition. If you don’t, then you’re simply guessing, and your luck can only hold out so long.
Build a solid foundation of data, potentially in partnership with a market research firm. Start with a demographic workup of your audience: who are they? How old are they? How much do they earn? Where do they get their news? Do they own their own home, do they aspire to or are they a generation of renters?
When you know who your customers are and what they value, you can begin to work on persuading your products are just what they need.
Simplicity
The virtue of good marketing is simplicity. Don’t try to overwhelm your audience with information. Pick one thing about your products that makes them resonate with your customer’s value and let that inform your strategy.
If you’re targeting as your market young people who are saving for a home, or worried about the future, then emphasising the value proposition of your product is the most persuasive approach. Even if it doesn’t directly help them in their journey towards home ownership, the prospect of saving money is the persuasive part of your argument, and it’s that they’ll fall in love with.
Consistency
The most important virtue of a campaign is consistency. Customers have to feel like they understand what you’re offering if they’re going to love it, and if they see lots of different ads, with lots of different approaches they’re not going to feel like they understand what’s on offer.
They might start to fall in love with your product as a reliable money saver, but if they immediately see other campaigns calling the same thing a luxury, or a status symbol it’s going to undermine then, and leave your customers confused, whatever they want!
